Updated Oct. 1, 2018 –
Passenger flights to and from Paine Field in Everett, WA have passed an environmental obstacle and are expected to start in early 2019.

This means an easier commute for more than 1 million business and vacation travelers in north King County and Snohomish County to avoid traffic jams around downtown Seattle and farther south around Sea-Tac Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s environmental assessment shows no significant noise or traffic impacts for the airport 20 miles north of Seattle.

The plan was first proposed by Alaska Airlines. Commercial flights are also expected by Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

Alaska Airlines’ flights will launch to and from Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose.

With the most nonstop flights on the West Coast than any other airlines, Alaska flies nonstop to 90 airports from Seattle.

In addition, this is a blessing for South Sound residents headed for Sea-Tac because there will be less congestion at the airport.

Alaska will provide as many as daily flights from Paine Field on Boeing 737s and Embraer 175 regional jets as allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Why Paine Field

Paine Field has only been used for Boeing test flights, deliveries, general aviation and maintenance stopovers.

That is until Alaska Airlines’ innovative plan that will ease the traffic congestion in King County – removing hundreds of cars off I-5 every day.

Nearly 48 million people flew in and out of Sea-Tac Airport in 2016.

The travelers contributed to the massive traffic congestion on I-5 between Sea-Tac and Seattle.

I first wrote about Alaska Airlines’ plan on Feb. 7, 2013 — here’s an excerpt:

In my experience, it will take travelers much less commute time from the area just north of Seattle to the Snohomish County Airport.

Many people opposed the idea when it was announced in 2013 after the FAA determined that converting Paine Field in Everett, Wash. to an authorized airport for jet service wouldn’t adversely affect the region’s air, noise or traffic.

The cities of Edmonds and Mulkiteo initially filed a notice with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco of their intention to appeal the FAA’s decision.

However, they faced an obstacle. Because the county receives taxpayer dollars from the federal government for the airport, officials were obligated to accommodate the commercial airlines if they wish to expand their service.

The commute for airline passengers between Everett and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is 40 miles.

But they must drive through downtown Seattle on Interstate 5, which means an aggravating long trip especially in rush hour traffic headed in either direction.

It’s 62.5 miles from Everett to the smaller Bellingham International Airport. The commute takes at least an hour.

It would have behooved opponents to consider the welfare of the entire region. The nearest airport is quite a distance away.

In looking ahead, Alaska Airlines is providing a suggested schedule to the FAA for the next five years. That includes a proposed list of 35 round-trip jet flights a week.

“We continue to believe that our flights at Sea-Tac Airport and in Bellingham best serve the Puget Sound region’s needs for affordable air travel, particularly in light of the significant investments both airports have made recently to improve their facilities,” says Andrew Harrison, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of planning and revenue management, in a press release.

“That said, if one or more other airlines begin operations at Paine Field, we would commence service alongside these carriers,” adds Mr. Harrison. “Submitting a schedule with the FAA along with a request for authorization to serve Paine is a necessary step in the process.”

Initial proposal

Alaska Airlines’ proposed schedule in the first year of operations would include 14 weekly round-trip flights to Las Vegas, Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii, using Boeing 737-800 jet aircraft.

Alaska would also fly 21 weekly round-trip flights to Portland, Ore., with Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft. Not all destinations would be served daily.

By the fifth year of operations, Alaska would fly 49 weekly round-trip flights. This would include 28 round-trips to Las Vegas, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego with 737-800s, plus 21 weekly round-trips to Portland using Q400s.

The proposal service for the first year — 35 round-trip flights a week:

City pair

Weekly Frequency

Aircraft

Everett-Honolulu

4

737-800

Everett-Las Vegas

7

737-800

Everett-Maui

3

737-800

Everett-Portland

21

Q400

Summary of proposed service by the fifth year — 49 round-trip flights a week:

City pair

Weekly Frequency

Aircraft

Everett-Honolulu

4

737-800

Everett-Las Vegas

7

737-800

Everett-Los Angeles

7

737-800

Everett-Maui

3

737-800

Everett-Phoenix

4

737-800

Everett-Portland

21

Q400

Everett-San Diego

3

737-800

Alaska Airlines operates about 1,750 weekly round-trip flights at Sea-Tac, and up to 63 weekly round-trip flights at Bellingham International Airport, which is approximately a one-hour drive north of Everett.

Common welfare must come first

With empathy for opponents who live near Paine Field, the concept makes sense because it affects far more people than in just a few cities, taxpayers are supporting the airport, and consider the proposed schedule and all the cities — it’s an economic development tool.

Plus, I’m not familiar with the commute between Everett and Bellingham, but I’ve endured the traffic between Everett and Sea-Tac. Conversion would ease I-5 traffic through Seattle, and will make it more convenient for businesspeople – a drawing card for businesses thinking of locating to the region.

Personally, I’ve made countless trips between Seattle and Everett to visit relatives and for client meetings. Unless the drive was late at night, it was a quagmire. For productive client meetings in the morning hours, it necessitated driving to Everett the night before and staying in a motel.

Also, I’ve sat next to passengers from Everett on Alaska Airlines flying to vacation spots in southern California, Hawaii and Mexico – they practically needed vacations just to recover from their long commutes to Sea-Tac. The same was true for business travelers.

(Disclosure: I have been a long-time satisfied passenger on Alaska Airlines. Also, via Google’s AdSense, Alaska Airlines’ ads are often inserted on this portal, but I haven’t sought nor received any payment for this opinion. That goes for other companies mentioned in articles published here.)

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves 95 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.

Alaska Airlines has ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers” in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airline Satisfaction Study (SM) for many consecutive years.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are relevant travel tips:

13 Great Business Travel Tips — Jet lag, bad hotel beds, and lost luggage – just a few of the miseries of business travel. But travel is vital to manage operations, close sales and to build relationships.

Trending: ‘Bleisure’ Travel in Europe — Annually in Europe, 30 percent of travelers are businesspeople. Ostensibly, many are increasingly adding days to their business travels to take a leisure break. Hoteliers welcome the trend and dub it bleisure travel.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

__________

Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.

In news coverage about the airline industry, there are countless worldwide news reports about the plight of most airlines suffering from high fuel costs.

So, it’s about airline jobs, and commerce – enhanced aviation service for businesspeople and consumers — as fuel expenses constitute as much as 30 percent of an airline’s operational costs.

But an aviation biofuel industry has taken hold in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to a partnership called Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN), which produced results from a 10-month study in May, 2011. In effect, the report is a SWOT analysis for developing public policy and biofuels for the airline industry.

“It is critical to the future of aviation that we develop a sustainable supply of aviation biofuels,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh. “Airlines are particularly vulnerable to oil price volatility, and the aviation community mst address this issue to maintain economic growth and further mitigate the environmental impacts of our industry.”

How will it be possible?

“The Pacific Northwest has the diverse feedstocks, fuel-delivery infrastructure and political will needed to create a viable biofuels industry capable of reducing greenhouse gases and meeting the future fuel demands of the aviation industry,” states the SAFN’s press release . “Creating an aviation biofuels industry, however, will depend upon securing early government policy support to prioritize the aviation industry in U.S. biofuel development.”

SAFN indicates a biofuels industry for aviation is the next logical step, and explains how it can be accomplished.

“To make a sustainable biofuels industry a reality, the study outlines an integrated approach recommending the use of many diverse feedstock and technology pathways, including oilseeds, forest residues, solid waste and algae,” according the SAFN press statement.” In addition, the study outlines the long-term importance of securing aviation biofuels as a top government priority and using the aviation industry to drive growth in domestic production.”

The SAFN study encompassed the full gamut from biomass production to airline usage.

“However, as with any new energy supply, political support at the state and federal level is critical in the early stages of development,” cautioned the press release. “While the study does not advocate for permanent government support, it recognizes that focused public investments and parity with other biofuels programs will be needed to place the industry on an economically competitive basis.”

Participating airports

Port of Portland is one of the three Northwest airports that are participating in SAFN.

“The Northwest is uniquely positioned to serve as a blueprint for developing a U.S.-based, sustainable aviation biofuels industry,” said Steve Schreiber, Port of Portland aviation director.

The Port of Seattle says biofuels for aviation are an environmental solution.

“Airports have been leaders for years in finding ways to reduce their environmental footprint, from clean fuel sources for taxis and shuttles to electrification of ground equipment and pre-conditioned air, but in order to take the next big step we have to address emissions from aircraft,” said Bill Bryant, Port of Seattle commission president.

“We can’t get there without biofuels. It not only will help the sustainability of the Northwest but also the aviation industry,” he asserted.

Spokane International Airport says biofuels is important for competitiveness.

“We can no longer base our future on imported petroleum, especially if the United States wants to remain an aviation leader,” said Lawrence J. Krauter, chief executive officer, Spokane International Airport. “The SAFN study proves domestic biofuels are feasible and offers an economic opportunity for us to remain competitive as an industry and move toward a sustainable, domestic fuel supply.”

Washington State University

Washington State University makes a prediction.

“WSU will combine our world-class biofuel and agricultural researchers along with significant institutional assets to leverage the Northwest’s abundance of agricultural and natural resources necessary to create a dynamic new aviation fuels industry,” said Dr. John Gardner, vice president for Advancement and External Affairs at Washington State University.

“The long-term payback will be a stateside industry that greatly enhances our traditional economic strengths; from farming and forestry to engineering and aerospace, creating new opportunities and new jobs for the Northwest,” added Dr. Gardner.

SAFN originated in 2010 with more than 40 partners.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are articles related to the airline industry:

Lessons for Struggling Businesses from American Airlines — Labor strife, high expenses, bankruptcy and now a merger: In a sense, a legendary American company bites the dust. In a bid for sustainability, the American Airlines (AA) $11 billion merger with US Airways makes it the world’s largest carrier.

Boeing, Airbus Rivalry – Lessons in Strategic Planning — It would make a great Hollywood movie. Boeing leads Airbus in the sales war so far in 2014. Boeing has sold 941 aircraft to Airbus’ 722. Delivery-wise, Boeing also leads Airbus 461 to 289. However, each has at least an eight-year backlog in delivering jets. Probably to the chagrin of the American company, Airbus has invaded Boeing’s home turf – it’s assembling 10 percent of its A320s in Alabama. And China is building jets to compete with Boeing and Airbus.

“Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.”

-Charles F. Kettering

__________

Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.